UNE PIECE Challenge Finalist 2017

UNE PIECE QUT bluebox Challenge Finalist 2017

Find a sun-safe, aesthetic swimsuit can be difficult for women all over the world. Beginning as an idea inspired from trends in Europe, UNE PIECE (one piece in French) has grown to sell in 38 countries and make that task a little easier as well as growing a legion of women supporting one another.

Q&A with Carly Brown founder of UNE PIECE

Who is UNE PIECE

Entrepreneur, Carly Brown, is QUT Bachelor of Business and Journalism graduate. Carly spent 14 years building other brands before she took on an idea for her own one piece swimsuit brand, the UNE PIECE.

“I grew up in the Sunshine Coast with an avid surfer father but I actually spent a lot of time living in the UK in my 20’s, I was there for seven years and so I was always escaping the miserable weather and making my way to the gorgeous beaches of Europe so south of France, Italy, Greece. It was there that I discovered the one-piece swimsuit, which is very much a trend there,”

What is UNE PIECE?

Launched last year the UNE PIECE is an Australian-designed one-piece, UPF50+, long sleeve swimsuit.

Carly was inspired to bring the trend home, “I then saw the trend coming in Australia and decided to research a range. I researched five different pieces and one piece just kept coming up again and again — what I now call ‘The Original Sexie Rashie’. Women were literally, as they were trying it one saying ‘can I write my name down, can I give you a deposit?’. I started a wait list and we had 30 people quickly, so I put it online and then that blew out to 500 people. Before we launched we had 500 people on our wait list!”

What is the biggest challenge starting up UNE PIECE?

Although experienced in building global brands, Carly admits the world of fashion has been an exciting challenge for UNE PIECE.

“Navigating an industry I hadn’t worked in before has been a challenge. I have launched a lot of NPD in my time across a number of different brands but I've never worked in the fashion industry. So it was speed learning!

Greatest success to date

Carly mentions it’s not just validation from reputable fashion magazines but also from customers that count for her and her startup.

“There have been so many exciting moments, The Huffington Post covering us and the Times London and Vogue, was a dream come true. In addition, the consumer response, the customer emails I get from women just saying thank you, I feel amazing!”

“Some emails say, ‘I previously felt daggy on the beach with my kids’ or ‘I'm so fair skinned that I would burn’ or ‘I have body confidence challenges and UNE PIECE helps me be confident’, that is really what makes me feel amazing.”

Speaking about influential entrepreneurs

Carly is inspired by many entrepreneurs and has a close circle of friends who have recently launched brands of their own.

“I have a number of professional muses, and friends who have launched their own businesses. But also I’ve had a lot of inspiration from entrepreneurial groups such as Like Minded Bitches Drinking Wine, and Business Chicks, that really gave me the inspiration and the platform to have the confidence to do something on my own.”

Women in the startup industry

“I've been really lucky I've had incredible female mentors and I continue to have amazing female mentors.

I think women can do anything they want. That's my message to young women you really can do anything! I do think the ‘Superwoman’ myth needs to be busted. There's no such thing, and I think the main thing is that we all respect and celebrate what each other chooses for their own life.”

One of the best parts of UNE PIECE is the community it is building, supporting women globally.

“To see the community of women that have come together to celebrate diversity of beauty and body confidence you only need to look at our hashtag #unepiecewomen and you will see our community in full force. These women are forming as a collective from all over world some who would have never taken a picture of themselves in a swimsuit but they have the confidence now, women from all over the world Switzerland, South Africa, Ibiza, women everywhere!”